


Military Relations

by snowandlilacs



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2020-02-28 18:28:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18761971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowandlilacs/pseuds/snowandlilacs
Summary: A series of drabbles inspired by prompts following the relationship of a specialist and her general.





	1. A Quiet Moment

**Author's Note:**

> Some pre-established relationship domestic fluff. A short little thing while I get a feel for writing fic for this pair.

“Are you alright?”

Winter was confused by the question. Did she seem upset? She was just sitting there, her tea in hand, staring off at the wall….

“You’re quiet today.”

She blinked, not realizing that she had been quiet enough to signal any difference in her behavior. Hadn’t she been acting as she usually did? If James’ concern was anything to go by, apparently not. Not that Winter could pick out any particular reason for the strange feeling of not really wanting to talk much that day.

“I didn’t realize. I apologize.”

A small sigh and shake of his head had Winter confused as to why James seemed to disagree with her. 

“You don’t have to apologize. I just want to make sure you're okay.”

_“Oh.”_

He slipped a hand in her free one and gave a gentle squeeze. It was enough to pull a small smile from her and lean into him as she sipped at her tea, but she soon set it down, a wave of emotion bubbling up in her. Winter turned and let his hand go in favor of a hug instead.

For a split second she thought she chose the wrong course of action before she felt arms wrap around her and hold tight in return. To say that she was touched starved would be an understatement. Growing up as she did, Winter wasn’t used to touch that was caring. Not for quite some time, so she loved being able to lean into him and just be _held_ , to feel safe. Not that she ever expected to be in this position with him of all people. Even so, it felt like a weight was lifted from her shoulders knowing that she could have this moment and he didn't question it.

While neither would risk their professional careers to act in such a way at work, in the comfort of the apartment, they could be just like anyone else. There were times when distance separated them, or work made things far more difficult than either expected, but it was _these_ moments that Winter appreciated the most.

As her hold loosened, so did his, but neither let go of the other. They needed this moment. A quiet reassurance that they were okay, that they could rely on each other. 

For now, Winter was content to just stay like this.


	2. Risk and Worry

Winter was choosing to ignore the feeling of eyes staring at her back as she packed what she deemed as necessary for the mission. There was no time to waste; she was supposed to leave for as soon as she was prepared. 

“You can still turn it down.”

No she couldn’t. He knew she couldn’t at this point, but Winter couldn’t claim to know his thoughts on why he said otherwise.

“You know I can’t. I will do my job,” Winter insisted.

The sigh of frustration she heard from him caused her to roll her eyes, grateful he couldn’t see as she did. Winter knew he was concerned, but this wasn’t something that she could just walk away from. He knew that. They had to be professional. It didn’t matter what either of them _wanted_ , not when some would take any sign of favoritism or weakness as a reason to ruin their careers. 

It didn’t take long to pack what she needed to take with her, but a hand closed over hers as she started zipping up the pack. The interruption was enough to pull her attention and look directly up at James. 

“This mission will be dangerous. There’s a reason I gave you the chance to turn it down, so why didn’t you?”

It was her turn to sigh. 

“Who else would you trust this mission to?”

Winter was almost pleased with herself when she managed to make him speechless. There were others capable, but sometimes ‘capable’ wasn’t enough. She preferred seeing a job through personally. She liked making sure there were no loose ends, and she got results. James couldn’t deny that.

But they were dancing around the real issue here.

“If there’s something you want to say, you really should just say it. I need to be heading out and we’re standing here wasting time.”

The weak laugh she pulled from him was at least a minor victory toward getting the stony expression to ease up, even if only for that brief moment. 

“Winter.” 

_A pause._

“If anything were to happen to you—”

“If anything were to happen, you continue on,” she interrupted. “Remember, this is all kept secret for a reason. You would stand to lose everything if you showed any hints of favoritism.”

The hand around hers tightened.

“I stand to lose everything as it is.”

Winter stared. The emotional pull from her heart threw her off and left her standing there, uncertain of what to say in response to that.

“James—”

“Just come back safe.”

That wasn’t something she could guarantee. Another thing he knew, but even the smallest comforts helped in moments of stress. “I’ll be fine. Take care of yourself while I’m gone.”

She felt his free hand wrap around her waist and pull her close. Part of her wanted to point out that they didn’t have time to be lingering with long goodbyes. Another part wanted to hold on to the moment as long as possible. Despite wanting to stay there, both knew that there was work to be done, and the world would not wait. 

The fleeting moment ended with her pulling away and squeezing back the hand that was holding hers before letting go completely. She quickly grabbed her bag, and Winter steeled herself back into the professionalism expected of her. 

“I will report when I get back.”


	3. A Small Comfort

The door slammed harder than he intended, but James’ frustration from his meeting with Jacques hadn’t subsided. Not that he was enough to entirely ruin his day under normal circumstances, but a headache had plagued him prior to the meeting. Combine that with the pig-headed nature of the other and that would test the patience of anyone. It was no wonder Winter never willingly visited her father. Unfortunately he could not get out of such meetings like she could. A ‘conflict of interests’ she once called it with a smirk on her face, knowing very well he couldn’t argue that point. Sending Winter to discuss matters involving the SDC would raise a few concerns among the public, let alone the council. 

Ignoring the fact that others would consider it a conflict of interest if they learned about his and Winter’s involvement as well.

That train of thought was not what he needed right now. Even without the fact that their relationship would cause concern, Winter was also not in Atlas at the moment. Reports were few and far between, and while he had no doubts as to Winter’s skills, that did not mean he was not worried.

James winced at another pulsing pain behind his eyes. 

It had been a long day.

His first instinct was to make coffee—ignoring the hour and the fact it would not help him relax—but he decided to take some of Winter’s tea instead. Surely she wouldn’t mind. Tea wasn’t his usual go to, but under the circumstances he thought that it would provide a small comfort, so he went through the motions of making it the way he would for Winter. James paused for a moment when he was done. Normally this would be where he would hand it off and she would crack a small smile of thanks at the gesture. With her away on a mission, all he had was the memory until she returned.

_If she returned._

Worry ate at him again as he picked up the tea. He was supposed to be thinking about anything except what Winter was up to or what risks she was facing. James took a sip, and sighed from the exhaustion weighing on him. Even without her there, the smell of the tea and the warm mug in his hands was enough of a comfort to ease a small portion of stress from his shoulders. It certainly didn’t cure the problem, but any little bit that helped was welcome. 

After a few minutes of drinking the tea he realized his headache was slightly less noticeable, and he decided he should try to get at least _some_ rest. James set the mug in the sink and started his nightly routine. A quick shower and change of clothes later, he double checked his scroll for anything that needed his attention, and once he was satisfied that there was nothing—and slightly disappointed at the same time—he set the scroll down and closed his eyes.

Unfortunately sleep was not quick to claim him.

He felt that an easy night’s rest was too much to hope for when thoughts were swimming around in his head. The idea of getting up and getting more work done certainly occurred to him. At least then he would be doing something productive. The drawn out silence from the scroll also was doing nothing to help. James debated shutting it off, at least then he would know that he shouldn’t expect any alerts to wake him just as he dozed off; if he ever got that far. 

James shifted about, trying to get comfortable enough to ignore his instinct to get up and work some more, and found himself on Winter’s side of the bed. Suddenly it felt like there was too much room left vacant for him to occupy. It was strange. Normally he would be fine without her there—they couldn’t always be at each other’s side even when they were both in the city—but her absence was more keenly felt knowing that she was taking a mission he knew was high risk. She would think he was being ridiculous if she knew how much he was dwelling on that fact. He was well aware of that. 

Another sigh left him.

It seemed all he had been doing was sighing lately. 

He didn’t realize that he was dozing off at first. A blink that lasted a few seconds. The heavy pull of sleep on his limbs. For a second he considered fighting it, the thoughts in his mind wanting his attention, but a second later he forgot it.

Finally sleep claimed him and James was able to rest without conscious worry or obligation weighing on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was mostly word vomit and obviously James-centric. I don't really know what I was doing with this one, but it's done and that's good enough for me, haha.

**Author's Note:**

> So if you want a specific prompt or idea looked at as something written (I can promise nothing, however) go ahead and send the request to my tumblr mentioned in my profile.
> 
> Any future updates is dependent on my motivation and if I have ideas to work with. I do very much like this pairing, so we'll see where this set of drabbles goes.


End file.
